Jacqueline Leigh

Well, my little princess, I believe that today will be your birthday. However, in a long-standing family tradition — we’re late. We were originally scheduled to induce this morning at 5a. Last night, the hospital called and rescheduled it to 7a. Then, this morning, they called at 6a and changed it to 8a. At 8, it was 10. At 10, it was 12. So, now we’re waiting for our 12 o’clock call to find out if they are ready for us or not. Evidently today is a *very* popular day to be born.

It seems like only a few weeks ago, Mommy first told me that you were on your way. Now, we’re here at the big day. It’s hard to believe that so much time can pass so quickly, but indeed it does.

Mommy and I have been so excited about your arrival. I think the only person more excited is your big sister. She has been talking to you, singing to you, reading you stories, and giving you sweet kisses. It is so hard to imagine that you’re only a few inches away, but I’m so ready to hold you. We’re so excited!!

Well, as luck would have it, Mommy’s doctor just called and said that they are ready for us!!

WE’RE ON OUR WAY!! I can hardly wait to see you and hold you!

I Love You!!

Daddy

Jackie’s Blanket

My belly button has popped out … not terribly but definitely more than it ever did with Katie. With Katie, the belly button only got flat! I’m still super sensitive around the belly button area! Can’t stand it when people accidentally rub the belly button! Weird huh?!

Well, we’re getting super close and my body is pretty ready! I’m packed and baskets are made and little clothes are in drawers … so for all practical purposes, we’re ready! We still have quite a few loose ends but nothing that can’t get done after she gets here. My guess is that we still have 2 and a half weeks or even 3 … we’ll see. I go to see the doctor next Tuesday! I’ll be 37 weeks this Saturday.

Well, Daddy has been a Super Daddy for the past month! He is especially busy at work these days as the company is growing exponentially with bigger projects and the need to expand the company has been consuming him in looking for new office space and looking for the right people to bring aboard our Live Oak family!

With all this going on, he has still managed to dedicate the last four week-ends to me as my nesting instinct has kicked in! He has been so instrumental in helping me make room for you little one! We had somehow managed to accumulate enough stuff to fill two rooms with well, stuff!

One week-end we managed, with the help of Pawpaw, Papi, G-ma, Abuelito, and Lamar, to move EVERYTHING out of those two rooms! Our house looked like it had exploded but at least those two rooms were clear. Second we had to decide a home for all that stuff … either back into our new office or to the trash or to the garage to a donation pile. That was something only we could do so that seemed a little more overwhelming than moving everything out. Thirdly, we managed to pick out paint and paint the new room a wonderful pink for our two little girls!

This new room will be our Princess room that Katie will move into while you, Jackie will move into the nursery since it is already set up for baby stuff, and when you’re a little older … we’ll move you, our second little princess, into that room with your sister so you can share some more wonderful memories together! I can’t wait until you’re here!!!

I’ve already started receiving back tupperware-fuls of clothing and baby accessories from friends and family … so it’s just a matter of time before I can start organizing all that cute little stuff into your room. I can’t wait to play with all those cute little outfits again! It seems like such a distant memory since Katie was that little that I’m really looking forward to doing it again! We are so excited!

We love you so much!

-Mommy

Well, we have finally decided on your name sweet baby! We’re still debating the spelling of the first name but we’ll know for sure by the time we have to sign the papers at the hospital!

The name actually came up early in the process. It was a name that your Daddy liked very much and I just wasn’t quite sure on … in fact I had crossed it off our official name list. Eventhough it was off the official list, somehow it managed to keep coming up everytime we would talk about it!

Finally we narrowed it down to two names and when I asked your Daddy to say your name out loud as if talking to you … telling you he loved you while he tucked you in at night … it was clear to your Daddy that it was the original name he had picked out long ago ….

Drum roll …..

Jacqueline or Jacquelyn Leigh Meadows. Now the middle name had its own story. Just so you know though before I move on with that … the second possibility of your name would have been Emily Grace ! O.K. So the middle name I wanted to be Louise or Eloise or Louisa but Daddy wasn’t convinced. So in looking at more L names, we came across Leigh and instantly liked it. We especially liked the spelling and agreed without question.

We began telling everyone the name reserving the right to change it if chose to but all of a sudden it just stuck … like Katie’s name did. A very adorable wooden egg was made by Aunt Mimi and Roy for Easter with your name on it and Katie has already started referring to you as Baby Jackie while talking to Mommy’s belly! So I think the name is here to stay!

We love you so much Baby Jackie! We can’t wait to meet you in person!

-Mommy

I still can’t believe it! What a wonderful surprise! The pregnancy has been so different I was beginning to, and convinced myself by this point, Dos was going to be a boy! I had friends already offering their boy clothes and had already come up with possible boy names.

You see, as the pregnancy developed, everything seemed so different. I had morning sickness at night vs. in the morning with Katie. I was actually getting sick whereas with Katie I was mostly nauseous (which was worse really because I couldn’t rid myself of that feeling as I could with just getting sick). The heartbeat for Dos was super low (140, 137, 150) vs. Katie’s constant 164. My belly is so round and much higher up than with Katie’s pregnancy. With Katie’s pregnancy I carried much lower all through the pregnancy and I never seemed to poke out as much as I have with this one. I seemed much more emotional, crying for absolutely no reason at all … whereas with Katie I would cry but it would take a Hallmark commercial to get me going. These are all old wives tales of course … but somehow I had got it into my head that my little Dos was going to be a boy!

As soon as the sonographer told us that we were expecting another little girl, my eyes just swelled up with joy! I started crying like a little baby after our appointment because I was just so tickled that I had not seen the last of those sweet little pink dresses, those ruffle bottoms and hair dos. My daughter Katie will have a wonderful soul mate, a sisterhood that no one will be able to undo. The bond between these two will be strong and special. My bond with my girls (Oh! goodness, that sounds so good … “My Girls” ) will be unsurpassable! And my girls will just be oh so able to melt their Daddy with just one look. My poor husband is going to be putty in their hands!

Now the only thing to figure out is what she might look like, what we might call her. Will she be another little red-head or will she have black hair like her Mommy? Will she resemble her father like Katie does or will she take more after me? Only 18 weeks (or less) to go until we get to meet you, my little angel! I can’t wait!

With love,
Mommy

I felt my baby move today! Those wonderful little bubbles! I thought I noticed a few bubbles a couple of days ago, but today there is no question about it. The bubbles are nice and big and have movement to them. I had almost forgotten what the feeling was like! Days like today are what make pregnancy a wonderful moment in a woman’s life. This and sonogram days …

Last month’s visit was supposed to be a routine visit and while the doctor was trying to find the heart beat and couldn’t, she decided to pull out an old sonogram machine to check in on the baby and we got a quick peak at our little one … it sure helped me get through that week as I was not feeling my best!

Daddy and I are really looking forward to our next visit to the doctors next week! We are also counting down the days to mid-February since that will be our first opportunity to find out if Katie is going to be a big sister or a big brother ;o)!

It’s been a few weeks since we made the big announcement to the family but they were all so cute and unique, I wanted to write them down so as to not forget them! First off was my sister Laura. The very Saturday I found out I was pregnant with Dos XX, we had a toga party at my sister’s place to celebrate Uncle Lamar’s 30th B-day! Mind you, my husband didn’t know yet as I was saving the big surprise for Sunday morning. So we’re dressed up in our cute little toga outfits and as we’re walking up we’re greeted by all of their wonderful friends and of course Laura and Lamar. Lamar and Andy hook up and go inside … Laura tells me how beautiful I look and she stops and stares at me for a split second and says … “You’re glowing, you just look so beautiful … Oh my GOSH!!! You’re pregnant!” All in one breath, well, maybe two! She caught me by such surprise I hesitated for a split second and it was then she knew she was right! I’ve never been able to keep much from my sister … she sees right through me! That Monday, Momma Helen, known to Dos XX and Katie as Momo, came over to bring gifts for Katie and again she looked at me and just stared and blurted out “You’re pregnant aren’t you” … I did hesitate again for a split second only because I couldn’t believe people could really tell that I was so early on. I caught myself immediately as I knew my husband was really looking forward to telling his parents together so I promptly laughed the idea off, she bought it … or she seemed to anyhow!

That week is when I got the sudden urge to tell the world. It was still very early, but I couldn’t contain it any longer! So that next week-end, we decided to take advantage of Andy’s sisters being together in Dallas to tell them with the cute little T-shirt we got Katie for her that says “I’m the BIG sister!” Since all of Andy’s family are Mac users and all have high-speed internet, it makes it a little easier to communicate with an iSight camera. So how cool it was to ring them up on a video conference and chat with them very casually when all of a sudden we get Katie to “show” Aunt Nene and Aunt Cookie her t-shirt. Unbeknownst to us, or to me at least, Callie has the same t-shirt and used it the day Anna was born … sooooo, Aunt Nene knew right away before we even showed her the writing that was in smaller print at the bottom what was going on! All of a sudden all we heard, was … “Stacey, Stacey … get in here!!! You’ve got to come in and look at Katie’s t-shirt” … of course, Aunt Cookie knew right away with just those words what was going on as she had helped come up with the idea of the “Big Sister” t-shirt to make our announcement. It was really sweet!

The Grandparents! The Grandparents weren’t quite so quick! ;o)

We invited my parents, Grandma and Abuelito, out to a typical Mexican brunch at the Margarita on Sunday after church. As soon as we got there of course, we hugged and kissed and we tried several times and several ways to bring attention to Katie’s t-shirt. Both said, “Oh yes, how cute!” Even after I mentioned that they should read the writing, they still I believe only half read it as we still only got an “Oh yes, how cute!” So as we were getting ready to sit down and I knew our opportunity for them to read the writing would be slim to none after she sat down … I very slowly said … no really … read carefully what the writing on her t-shirt says and I smiled the biggest grin possible! My mom got it first and my dad joined in about 5 minutes later. It was so cute! We talked details all through breakfast and really enjoyed the moment.

Andy’s parents, Papaw and Momo, had been lured to the Little Gym under the pretense that the theme for the week was family. So I encouraged both to attend and help us celebrate the theme … little did they know of course that even though that was the theme for us … it wasn’t really the theme at the Little Gym ;o)! They were both so excited, which made us even more excited about the announcement itself … it made me even a little nervous … worried they would see right through and know ahead of time (I wanted it to be somewhat of a surprise!). So we all arrived and started talking in the lobby as everyone took their shoes and socks off in preparation for the class. We again, made remarks about Katie’s t-shirt and how cute it was and Katie was so proud of this T-shirt by now because she had gotten such a good response so far that she was VERY proudly showing off her t-shirt this time! Again, both said “Oh Yes, how cute” even after we brought their attention to the writing! We ended up having to tell them to read it again with a grin on our faces to let them know the writing was important and it was then they both instantly knew! It was funny! We really enjoyed the class at the Little Gym that day … they were of course … the only G-parents there that day ;o)!

That very same day, Debbie and the kiddos came over and it was oh so very convenient that Katie had her Big Sister T-shirt on! They were so tickled … so we took a couple of pictures of Katie in her Big Sister T-shirt and sent an e-mail to the rest of the family with the pictures attached to make the big announcement!

Everyone is so happy for us and our big news! Our family is growing with lots of love!

-Mommy

A couple of days ago we saw your heart beat. (164 bpm) Mommy had a sonogram to make sure that everything was ok, and while they were checking on her, we checked on you too. It is so amazing to see how far you have progressed and developed in such a short amount of time. We saw your arms, legs, fingers, toes, and your spine. You looked so perfect!! The doctor said you were right on track and were developing perfectly. Seeing you there made my own heart race. I could hardly imagine that you’re going to be here in just over 7 months. That used to seem like an eternity, but I know it’s going to fly!!

We have started mentioning you to your sister. Although she is still trying to figure out what we’re talking about, I have a strong feeling that, deep inside, it’s starting to click. In the past couple of months she has really taken a strong interest in babies and their care. I know she’s going to be a great big sister.

Mommy has been really tired this time around. She is already anxious for you to arrive, however she knows we still have a ways to go. Everything, so far, has been perfect. Each day our excitement grows. It is hard to believe that you’re on your way. I can hardly wait to meet you. Your big sister has taught us so much. We are going to have so much fun!

What a mess we are! Here it is week 7 and I’m finally posting my very first blog about my beloved Dos XX. How true it is that with the first you are completely consumed with the pregnancy and you seem to give it all of your attention every step of the way. With the second you’re not quite so ontop of things, but not because it’s not as important to you but because you’ve got a little ball of energy running circles around you at the same time! I am just BEAT! It is a different sort of tired than what I experienced with Katie. I feel true exhaustion! And so early on too!

To backup a bit … we conceived probably around the end of September 2005. I knew I was pregnant within a week. I know this sounds weird but I felt some familiar changes in my body. It was really weird! Nothing I could have been in tune with when I became pregnant with Katie because it was my first time around. Within that week, I felt my metabolism kick it up a notch and then just plum exhaustion kicked in. I was already taking naps before I even took a pregnancy test (that is how tired I was!).

I waited a full four weeks from the time of my last period to take the test (just to be sure) and it was a Saturday morning. That Saturday was going to be a complete mess of a day and we were going to be on the run all day! But I just had to know … or rather … just needed to confirm what I already knew. Sure enough … the first and only test I took was positive.

Yet another difference between my first pregnancy and second. With Katie, I must have taken about 3-4 pregnancy tests just to make sure I was pregnant and that I wasn’t reading the test wrong! With this second pregnancy … I was so sure I was pregnant that I only took the one pregnancy test … I still can’t get over how confident I am about this pregnancy … I feel so much more sure of myself, my body. I suppose it might be because I’ve already been through it once before … I won’t be quite so worried unless I am given reason to be worried. I am so much more relaxed about what I am thinking, eating, doing … just so much more relaxed.

So because Saturday was going to be such a mess of a day, I wanted to wait until Sunday morning to tell my husband. We had already talked about nicknames for this baby and the name dos xx stuck. “Dos” … for obvious reasons … this is #2 … & “XX” because we’re hoping for another girl (XX chromosome instead of XY ;o) … cute huh?!) … So, I was so sure that I was pregnant I had already bought on-line a pair of socks with the Dos XX (the beer) emblem on them! So when I confirmed on Saturday morning, I made up my mind I was going to surprise him on Sunday morning. Katie was going to walk in to our bedroom to wake-up Dadda and say “Surprise” and hand him the socks … which she did and as soon as he saw the socks he instantly knew what the surprise was! It really was so sweet!

We all hugged, of course Katie unsuspecting of what it was exactly we were hugging about … she was just content of being loved on by her mommy and dadda!

Yet another difference in these pregnancies was my urgent need to tell our family members the good news. Because of all the miscarriage statistics, Andy and I waited until week 8 to tell our families with Katie. This time around I knew I would need the support of my family if something did indeed go wrong. But I’ve got such a good feeling about this, and as I mentioned before … I feel so confident … I think I just really wanted to share this good news before I got into the not feeling so good stage! I wanted to be happy and glowing still when I shared the good news. I’m not a good first trimester pregnant woman … if I don’t feel good … well … I tend to be a little cranky!!! Already I’ve had my moments when I think … “WHAT WAS I THINKING ABOUT!!!” again … mainly because of those awful nauseous moments! This truly is such an invasion of your body … I admire all women who love being pregnant or just really do glow throughout their pregnancy! ;o) I, on the other hand, see it as a means to an end! A beautiful, special little angel sent from above!!!

I have much more to share, but for now I will sign off since my other bundle of energy (I mean joy) is stirring from her nap.

With Love,
Mommy